The exchanged hands of the Schwetzingen Palace clocks on the instructions of the Elector
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Was the Elector playing a joke?
If you want to know the time in Schwetzingen Palace, you have to look twice, and not just because of the double clock on the main courtyard side. On the clocks, the large hands indicate the hours, and the small hands the minutes. Even historians who have studied the palace's history in depth are perplexed. They believe it's likely that the Elector was simply playing a joke with the swapped hands. Perhaps he was trying to imply that time shouldn't play a role when entering his realm...
Order from the Elector personally
A letter dated June 1, 1663, demonstrates that the clocks were important to Elector Carl Ludwig. This was the year in which he had the palace rebuilt to accommodate his lover, Luise von Degenfeld. The Elector decreed: "Accordingly, the Palatinate's most gracious command is that Cornelius Jansen set the clock in Schwetzingen and care for the peacocks, swans, and chickens, and that the rations previously paid for from the war chest, including livery, trousers, and stockings, should no longer be paid for there, but rather from the chamberlain's office."
Behind the clock in the tower on the courtyard side is the clock mechanism, which operates all three clocks via rods.
